DEDICATION For my grandmas: My kind, wise Granny, who instilled a love of books and curiosity in me. My strong, gentle Grandma Margaret, who left me with an ongoing desire to know more about my heritage.
I was intrigued when I read that dedication for a new guidebook, 100 Things to Do in Washington State Before You Die, by local writer, Gina Tarnacki.
With Northwest Prime Time’s focus on people over 50 who live in Washington — many of whom are grandparents — exploring the story behind the dedication made perfect sense.
Gina agreed to talk with me about her grandmothers, her book, and so much more.
But first, a little more about Gina Tarnacki. She was raised in Minnesota, born in Montana and still visits the family farm there — especially now that her sisters and mother have moved back to Montana. But now, “I consider myself a West Coaster,” Gina tells me. “I first moved to San Diego and spent eleven years there.” She loved the sunshine and being by the ocean, “and then my husband got a job up here.”
It took a while getting used to life in Western Washington, but now she and her family have fallen in love with the Evergreen State and have no plans to ever leave. They divide their time between their lakeside home near Seattle and a cabin on the Sound. Their life sounds idyllic. “It’s amazing,” agrees Gina.
“When we first moved here, we lived in Issaquah, in one of those cookie cutter neighborhoods. But then we started exploring and found tree-filled neighborhoods with yards that the kids could run around in. We lucked into an older neighborhood that backs up to a trail leading down to the lake that the neighbors share. It fosters a community feel, it’s multigenerational, and the kids can safely run around the neighborhood. We love that.”
When her husband stumbled on an old fixer-upper cabin on Hat Island, “we spent years fixing it up, and now it’s our little oasis. We play on the beach, see orcas and whales. Sometimes I think my husband found it so I would never bug him about moving back to San Diego!” jokes Gina. The truth is, leaving the congestion and smog of San Diego where everything is so brown might be about the best decision they ever made. “I’ve transitioned into enjoying the green trees and plants,” Gina confesses.
The family spends time on the lake, at their cabin on Puget Sound, venturing into the mountains and on trips to Eastern Washington, with its different kind of beauty and grandeur. They have become true Washingtonians.
Q&A WITH GINA TARNACKI
Tell me how you came to dedicate the book to your grandmothers? My Granny passed a couple of years ago; both grandmothers have passed. My Granny was a huge champion of my writing, and I traveled with her to other countries. I want to let the world know that she was part of what made me a writer and made me who I am. My other grandmother was born on the Mohawk Reservation in New York State. Her mother died when she was little, and her Dad died while working on skyscrapers. When she was five, she was forced to go into Catholic orphanages, where she stayed until she was 16. She tried to keep pride in her Mohawk culture, and it was very important to her to let my Dad know about it. She passed when I was 10 or 11, but I have memories of her. She was into active play, and sports. She was a lot of fun. My Dad is fun, too, all about play. He got that from her, so part of my love of recreation and hiking and getting out there into the world comes from that side of the family.
Both of your grandmothers sound so interesting, and both made such an impact on your life. Have you thought about writing about your grandmothers? Every now and then, my sister and I talk about our native culture, and how do we, as grandchildren, get back in touch with our heritage that we’ve lost. She’s an academic, and I’m a writer, so maybe we can tackle the project together, even if it’s just for the family itself.
My other grandmother, my Granny, had 10 children, 26 grandchildren, and I don’t know how many greats. I’m so glad my children, 7 and 10, got to know her before she passed. There was so much love, cooking and baking in her house. I adored her and loved our conversations, how she chose to live her life… Those were some of the most powerful conversations. I miss that so much. She also loved to read and was always sending me books. That’s why I became an avid reader. She was a big influence in my life. I fluctuate between being so grateful I had 40 years with her and then feel cheated that I didn’t have more, especially after I became a mom myself. Granny may be part of my next pivot, when I write some of the novels I’ve been thinking of… Some of the characters are influenced by my Granny.
How did you become a travel writer? I’ve always written stories my whole life, writing little books. And I was a Broadcast Journalism major, but decided I didn’t want to go that route, putting microphones in people’s faces. I realized I don’t have the personality for it. I wanted to stick to writing, and considered transitioning into print journalism, then fell into my life of travel writing when the local travel agency was looking for someone to help write press releases online. That grew into writing content on the website and a weekly newsletter. I was able to build up a resume of travel writing, and started pitching different publications. When I had my first daughter, I went completely freelance, writing for cruises, focusing on my blogs. Then Reedy Press reached out to me about writing 100 Things to Do in Billings Before You Die, which I co-wrote with my mom, Nancy Icopini, who lives in Billings.
When I wrote the Billings book, Granny was still alive. She was our greatest champion. Both grandparents were living with my mom at the time, and they had a rotation of caregivers. Granny would tell them all about the book. She still went to her Red Hat Society meetings until the month she passed away. She sold so many books for us, it was just amazing! What was so special, it was the last year of her life, and because of the book I spent so much time with her. It was such a gift.
Is there anything in particular in the book that you’d like to point out that could be especially interesting to older adults, or for people who might have limited mobility but still want to explore the region? Readers don’t need to be scared that it’s all about hiking. When I list recreational items, I try to think about mobility issues. For example, if someone can’t do #50 in the book, I like to give an option of something that would be easier. For every entry that may just not be a possibility for some people to accomplish, I tried to add a tip or sidebar that might be more achievable so everyone who gets the book can still have a full “100 Things” to check off. So many guidebooks are focused on outdoors and recreation, and that’s cool, but this book offers additional parts, including food, culture, museums, shopping, sports, history and entertainment. So you don’t have to be super active to walk around a museum or explore a cool shopping center like the one in Kalama — the Mountain Timber Market — that has the world’s largest totem pole. [Note: the totem pole was once billed as the world’s tallest but after it was restored, it is displayed horizontally and is now called the world’s longest!] There are festivals like the tulip and cherry blossom festivals to check out, and things they can do with grandchildren, like toy stores, and so many more ideas! This book has white space to take notes when you visit the places in the books, put down dates so it can be like a mini-travel journal. I love the idea of your readers going through the book with their adult children and grandkids… ‘Let’s do some of these together.’ That is a fun way to bond, to create memories of exploration together.
Tell me about the process of writing the book: Oh my goodness, it was so fun! But also so hard. Let me explain. I’ve lived in Washington for a decade and have (what I thought) thoroughly traveled through the state. So when I started writing this book for Reedy Press, I figured I was good to go with figuring out the 100 entries – especially after having already written a book for Reedy Press. But as I wrote and researched more, I realized there were still so many places I needed to check out! So my autumn ended up being weekend getaways (and sometimes longer while my husband held down the fort with the kids back at home) to destinations all around the state. Once there, I usually had a pre-planned itinerary of places I needed to see, but this always ballooned after arriving and talking to locals and just driving around and seeing what caught my attention to check out.
Was it hard to narrow down the list to 100? Oh yes!!! 100%. I think that was probably the most stressful part of writing this book. I really wanted to do the state and my fellow Washingtonians proud! One thing that helped was trying to find things that you can only do in Washington or businesses that really captured what I feel is the essence of Washington living and community. Trying to choose a scenic view hike was especially hard, because I know people are so passionate about that here. I ended up highlighting one that I feel is doable for most people. But then had to add in one more hiking entry for the Enchantments because…well, it’s the Enchantments!
What is your favorite recreation activity in Washington? This question is a hard one! Hiking is always wonderful, and there are some amazing mountain hikes in Washington…but I also love being by, on, or in salt water. So I’m going to say hiking to a beach – which is mentioned in #40 in the book!
What surprised you the most? How many local mom and pop shops and independent businesses there are that have been around for years and still thriving. I think it really shows that Washingtonians try to shop local and support their local community, including farmers via the many farmers markets and small local grocers around the state.
What was a place you learned more about? All the different tribal lands of Washington. I found all the Native American museums I visited to be so thoughtful and detailed in the way info was presented and exhibits were displayed. I really appreciated learning more about each tribe’s history and their connection to the land.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
100 Things to Do in Washington Before You Die offers ideas for visiting the serene and wild corners of the state and the trails and back roads that lie in between. It provides insider ideas to help you discover new and intriguing places, whether you’ve lived in Washington all your life or are new to the area. 100 Things offers a checklist of what Gina considers to be the state’s most exceptional places, experiences, and tastes along with helpful itineraries, seasonal ideas and more. “People who have lived here all their lives or for many years might be surprised how many things you haven’t done in this book!” exclaims Gina. “I tried to think outside the box and include some of the usual must-dos as a bullet point for a broader category instead of as a headliner, or as an aside with something else to do along with it so that there are more things to discover that will pique even longtime locals’ interests. I hope it encourages people to travel more extensively around Washington.”
You can meet Gina Tarnacki at upcoming author signing events:
- Sunday, June 29 from 1 to 3pm, Island Books, Mercer Island
- Saturday, July 10 from 11am to noon, Magnolia Farmers Market, W McGraw Street & 33rd Ave W in the Magnolia Village in Seattle
- Saturday, July 12 from 1 to 3pm, Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W Main Ave, Spokane, WA 99201
- Sunday, August 31 from 12noon to 3pm, Hat Island Arts and Crafts Fair, Hat Island Yacht Club, Hat Island, WA 98206
Gina Tarnacki is a local travel writer whose work has been published in USA TODAY, Travel + Leisure, TripSavvy, and other publications. For more information, visit Gina’s travel and lifestyle site: Evergreen and Salt.
